Sunday, 10 April 2011

I went to Jesus with a prayer
Upon a suppliant's knee;
Low at His cross I laid me down,
Nor asked His face to see,
Yet whispered in His ear the tale
No mortal ear could bear:
The story of a faithless heart,
And of its self-despair.

I told Him how my feet had slipped,
How often gone astray;
How oft my heart refused to love,
My lips refused to pray.
In stammering words that none but He
Hearing could understand,
I made complaint of careless work
Done by a careless hand.

Of wasted hours, of idle words,
Of love oft waxing dim,
Of silence when a warmer heart
Had testified of Him.
I owned my weak and selfish ways;
How often all day long,
Moanings and sighs had filled His ears
To whom I owed a song.
And what said He? What whispered words
Responded unto mine?
Did He reproach me? Did His love
On me refuse to shine?

And yet I choose thee. Be content
And since thou canst not fly
To heights by dearer souls attained,
Let it suffice to lie

Here at My feet; it is the place
To which My loved ones flee;
They find it sweet, and so shalt thou;
'Tis a safe place for thee.
Yes, it is sweet, and it is safe!
And here will I abide;
Sinful, and yet forgiven, sad,
And yet so satisfied.

Let us take our lot in life just as it comes, courageously, patiently, and faithfully, never wondering at anything the Master does.

Elizabeth Prentiss

This weekend we are enjoying lovely sunshiney weather! Enjoy your Sabbath rest today, and may you experience the peace of God filling your soul to the brim, and the joy of the Lord, which is your strength.

Friday, 8 April 2011

In these days leading up to Easter, I'm reading "Seeing and Savouring Jesus Christ" by John Piper. He asks the question, how can we really know Jesus? And Is the Bible reliable?

He explains that God opens the eyes of our blinded hearts to see the glory of Christ shining through His portrayal in the Bible. We do not need to pray for a special whisper from God that Jesus is real. We can look at the Jesus of the Bible with eyes of wonder, eyes wide open, and fill them with the full portrait of Jesus provided in the Bible. As we read and see, the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our hearts to see the self-evident brightness of the divine beauty of Christ. When we see Jesus for who He really is, we savour Him. That is, we delight in Him as true and beautiful and satisfying. This leads us to honour Him, and to walk joyfully in the narrow way of love.

Reading this book is really helping me in my serious quest for well-founded, everlasting, love-producing joy. Everything is at stake. There is no more important issue in life than seeing Jesus for who He really is and savouring what we see above all else.

Today I sat in the sunshine and read the last dozen or so chapters of Luke's gospel at one long sitting, to get my heart into the message of Easter. The resurrection never fails to fill my horizons with wonder and joy and hope and longing and gratitude.

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe